The government proposed to allow telecom operators to annually increase tariffs, including above inflation

The Russian Ministry of Digital Development proposed allowing telecom operators to index tariffs every year, including above the inflation rate. This is stated in the draft industry development strategy for the period until 2035.

The department explained that in order to develop the industry and maintain existing infrastructure, it is necessary to increase the investment capabilities of operators. “One of the sources of financing could be the annual indexation of tariffs for communication services,” the strategy says.

Interfax writes that communication tariffs in Russia are not formally regulated. But in April 2022, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, with the participation of the Ministry of Digital Development, developed recommendations according to which operators can increase prices by no more than the inflation accumulated since the beginning of the year. In June 2023, Kommersant reported that operators asked the government to allow them to annually raise communication tariffs at a level exceeding inflation by 5%.

• Before the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, the FAS repeatedly prohibited operators from raising tariff prices, considering these decisions to be economically unjustified. Thus, at the end of December 2022, the service prohibited Megafon from increasing prices for communication services by an average of 12%. In October 2021, the FAS made a similar decision regarding MTS, considering the second price increase since the beginning of the year by an average of 20% unjustified.